(Display Name not set)April 2007 Archives

There's no team quite like the Lakers, and Wednesday was proof of that again. So what if they're playing tomorrow in one of the season's biggest games? Luke Walton got to deny that he's dating Britney Spears, Lamar Odom had a camera crew in tow and Andrew Bynum tipped us off that Kwame Brown might not play the rest of the season.

Didn't you know the circus was back in town? I'm not sure whether to call Luke ``Mr. Spears'' or ``Federline'' right now but it's amazing how two items in the British tabloids could catch fire. Spears has attended three Lakers games since getting divorced/leaving rehab and the Daily Star and Daily Mirror tried to connect the dots.

So you end up with some hilarious gossip from ``sources'' close to Spears. From the Star: ``Luke's all man - - not like Federline or any of the guys that she's been used to. If anyone can sweep her off her feet, he can - - literally.''

Or my favorite from the Mirror: "Britney is certainly sports mad since dating Luke. She even chants his name when the rest of the fans do. Her face lights up when she sees him do well. She's really fallen for him.''

It reached the point Wednesday where Walton was debating putting out a statement denying the rumors. As Kobe Bryant put it, ``You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.'' I did a Google News search and found Web sites mentioning the rumor in India, South Africa, New Zealand, Tunisia, Canada and England.

We'll see if Britney shows up to watch the Lakers/Clippers game on Thursday night....Walton, by the way, is down to take part in the NBA's Basketball Without Borders camps for the second summer in a row. He went to South Africa last summer and is going to Brazil this summer.

* * *

Vladimir Radmanovic was hopeful that he could do more than just dress for the game. He played five-on-five Wednesday, had his ``moments'' on the floor, according to Phil Jackson, and said he hoped to play against the Clippers, his former team. ``It felt good enough so that I can go tomorrow and give it a shot,'' Radmanovic said.

Jackson on his team's recent fourth-quarter struggles: ``Maybe it’s the bad moon rising that’s causing those things to happen to us where we’re missing free throws down the stretch or an errant play. But for whatever reason, we’re on the bad end of the stick right now, so we’ve got to reverse that. ’’

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO--With four games left in the regular season, the good news is that the Lakers are free from distractions as they make their playoff push. Unless, of course, you count Luke Walton having to deny that he’s the new Kevin Federline.

Or if you ignore the camera crew that followed every move Lamar Odom made after practice. As it turns out, Odom is launching a new Web site and played host to a party Wednesday night for his record label and clothing line.

Just your typical day at the office, Britney Spears rumors and all, for the Lakers, who will play the Clippers tonight at Staples Center in one of the biggest games in history between Los Angeles’ two professional basketball teams.

Denied a Hallway Series last spring, the Lakers and Clippers will be part of the next-best thing tonight. The Lakers could move to the brink of qualifying for the playoffs with a win while the Clippers are desperate not to fall out of playoff position.

``They really need this game like we really need it,’’ said Odom, who played the first four seasons of his career with the Clippers. ``Plus it just happens to be Clippers/Lakers. It’s a great time.’’

The two teams never have met in the playoffs and seldom have played a more important late-season game. At the same time, Wednesday’s events showed just what a unique place the Lakers continue to hold in the city.

Instead of talking about the playoffs, Walton tried to pull his personal life out of the tabloids. Somehow the dots were connected from Spears attending two recent Lakers games to a relationship between the pop princess/rehab queen and Walton.

``The rumors aren’t true,’’ Walton said. ``I’m sure Britney is a great person. I don’t even know her. I have a girlfriend right now. I’m in a relationship. I’m very happy with my relationship. I don’t know where it’s all started, but none of it is true.’’

Walton is dating Bre Ladd, a former volleyball player at the University of Arizona, who happened to be sitting five seats down from Spears at one of the games she attended.

That wasn’t mentioned when ``Entertainment Tonight’’ ran with the story earlier this week. Walton said his girlfriend was amused at first but has grown irritated. For his part, Walton’s been hearing from friends who haven’t called in years.

``If I was living in Milwaukee, this wouldn’t have happened,’’ Walton said. ``It’s definitely an L.A. thing.’’

Walton was asked if this really would be the best time to take on Spears’ ``issues,’’ including her recent head-shaving episode, and answered, ``We’ve got our own issues. We’re trying to win some ballgames and do something in the playoffs.’’

Kobe Bryant was asked if the Lakers had a modern-day Madonna and Dennis Rodman situation on their hands and replied, ``If Luke dies his hair, then I’ll start answering some of these questions.’’

Odom, meanwhile, couldn’t even make the short walk for a bottle of Gatorade without a documentary crew on his heels. They were filming a video for lamarodom.com while he had a red-carpet event scheduled at a Venice club.

``It’s really a blessing,’’ Odom said. ``I feel like I’m talented as far as basketball is concerned and I have people around me who are just as talented as far as music, fashion and the arts are concerned. So I’m really fortunate and lucky.’’

The Lakers (40-38) would be hard-pressed to say the same on the court, where they have lost six of their last eight games, a slide unlike any before for a Phil Jackson-coached team so close to the playoffs.

They still can wrap up a playoff spot with a victory tonight and one loss by eighth-place Golden State, thanks to tiebreakers they would hold over the Clippers and Warriors.

The Clippers beat the Lakers 90-82 last week but have lost their past three games to slip a half-game behind Golden State. The only way for the Clippers (37-40) to feel secure about their playoff position is to sweep their final five games.

There also was the small matter Wednesday of the continuing saga involving injured center Kwame Brown, who is bothered by a bone bruise in his left ankle. Brown has missed the last four games and said he wouldn’t play again tonight.

Jackson has said he won’t push Brown to return but also makes no secret of how much he needs his size on the court. He said nothing had changed Wednesday in regard to Brown, though teenage center Andrew Bynum made a most curious comment.

Bynum said he’d ``learned recently’’ that Brown would be out the rest of the season. Brown seconded Jackson that nothing had been determined but for the second straight day would not commit to returning for the playoffs.

``I’m just being real honest with them, letting them know how it feels,’’ Brown said. ``I definitely don’t want to go out there and put myself in a situation where I’m going to hurt myself even further or put the team in a situation where they think I’m going to be able to play a certain way when I know I can’t right now.’’

Brown pulled away in his pick-up truck as reporters headed back to hear Walton joke if there were any questions about defending the screen-and-roll. As Odom summed up so neatly, ``You never know in La-la land.’’

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO--Out of the mouth of a child - - OK, Andrew Bynum is 19 years old and some 7 feet tall - - might have come truth Wednesday regarding injured center Kwame Brown’s status for the rest of the season.

Brown has struggled to overcome a bone bruise in his left ankle and is expected to miss his fifth straight game tonight. And Bynum said he was preparing as if he was going to start in Brown’s place the rest of the way.

``That’s something that I just learned recently that he was actually going to be out for the remainder of the season,’’ Bynum said. ``I didn’t know that. I just hope that he gets better. We’re going to need everybody for the playoff run.’’

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said Brown’s status was unchanged ``unless Kwame’s talking to guys in the locker room that he hasn’t been telling our trainers or myself.’’ Yet Brown again couldn’t guarantee that he would be able to return for the playoffs.

That could leave the Lakers starting the 19-year-old Bynum and using a center rotation of Ronny Turiaf and Brian Cook. Bynum played all of two minutes in last season’s playoffs and his recent play has been underwhelming.

``If we had our druthers,’’ Jackson said, ``we’d rather have Kwame taking the load out there and Andrew doing some things that would be unique and different for a team to have to handle. It’s going to be the way it is. We have to deal with it.’’

Bynum finished with 16 points Monday against Denver - - his most since a Feb. 23 game against Boston - - but played only 19 minutes because of foul trouble. Jackson wants Bynum to split minutes (24 or more) with Turiaf and be more of an inside presence.

``I need to go out there and just be more aggressive,’’ Bynum said. ``That’s what everybody keeps telling me. Just start demanding the ball more, and on the defensive end, being more of a help to my teammates, not so much worried about my guy and picking up fouls.’’

Welcome back: Vladimir Radmanovic practiced for the second consecutive day and said he wants to play tonight against the Clippers. Jackson said Radmanovic had his ``moments’’ in practice while Kobe Bryant joked about his new nickname of ``Igor.’’

That would replace ``Half-pipe,’’ the nickname given to Radmanovic after his snowboarding mishap over All-Star weekend. Radmanovic suffered a separated shoulder and was fined $500,000 by the Lakers for violating the terms of his contract.

Daughter-in-law? Luke Walton was able to joke about what his father Bill’s reaction would be to the news - - spawned by a British tabloid, all of it untrue - - that he was dating Britney Spears.

``My dad probably just thinks it’s true,’’ Walton said. ``He probably just thinks I haven’t told him. I’m sure next time I’ll see him, he’ll be like, `Luke, I see you have a new girlfriend.’’’

It's pretty amazing when you look at how Phil Jackson's 15 previous teams finished the season and compare it to these Lakers. Jackson has a way of getting his teams to peak at the right time but this season's Lakers are fading by contrast. Here's the record of Jackson's team in the last 10 regular-season games.

The Bulls years: 1989-90 (6-4), 1990-91 (7-3), 1991-92 (8-2), 1992-93 (7-3), 1993-94 (7-3), 1994-95 (8-2), 1995-96 (8-2), 1996-97 (6-4), 1997-98 (7-3)

The Lakers years: 1999-2000 (7-3), 2000-01 (9-1), 2001-02 (7-3), 2002-03 (8-2), 2003-04 (7-3), 2005-06 (7-3)

The 2006-07 Lakers have lost six of their last eight games and are 2-4 in what will be the last 10 games of the season. They closed 11-3 last season to get to 45-37. It's safe to say Jackson never has had a team close a season in such uninspiring fashion.

* * *

Talked to Sasha Vujacic coming off the court Tuesday after his strong game against Denver. Vujacic had six points and three steals in 22 minutes and played the entire fourth quarter. Here's a mini Q-and-A of sorts.

Q: You hadn't played in two games before last night and then you get that opportunity. Was that a big deal for you?

A: I was just waiting for my chance. Like I always say, whenever I'm out there, I'm going to give my 110 percent. Sometimes I'm going to get the shots, sometimes I'm going to have to play good defense in order for my team to get the `W.'

What my challenge was yesterday was to kind of slow down their point guards. That was what I was trying to accomplish yesterday. Of course, the most important thing for us in the next few games is we have to play good defense and just execute on offense so we can get a few wins and get the better spot in the playoffs.

Q: You had a really good playoff run last year. Do you think about that ever and do you think you have that same run in you again?

A: I knew last year that coach had huge confidence in me and I just didn't want to let anybody down. He gave me the opportunity so I grabbed that opportunity and played at the level I know how to play. I'm not completely satisified with how I played last year because if I had played a little bit better, probably would have won.

I'm totally looking forward to the playoffs. Like I said, as long as coach has that confidence in me, I don't want to let him down.

Q: What needs to change for you guys as a team right now?

A: Just to get a win. We just need to find a way to win. No more excuses, no nothing. We just have to play with our heart and put everything out there. We have to give the Clippers (Thursday) what they gave us a couple days ago.

* * *

Jackson was asked if the Lakers were preparing to resort to simply outscoring teams in the playoffs, given the state of their defense. If you go back to March 1, the Lakers are giving up 108 points on average. To put that in perspective, the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA's worst defensive team, are giving up 106.9 points for the season.

``If you play against a team like Phoenix, everybody downplays their defense,'' Jackson said. ``But they’re actually a very good defensive team. . . .They’re going to continue to score, so you really do have to outscore them. But you’ve got to find the defense out there anyway because there’s going to be a lot of attempts.’’

* * *

Kwame Brown's answer when asked if he was going to play no matter what in the playoffs: ``I'm not going to play and hurt the team and further injure myself. But if I can contribute anything and get up and down the court and sustain the pressure on the offense and defense, then I'll play. If not, I won't.''

Brown said his bone bruise is slow to heal because of the blood flow in the area. Jackson estimated Sunday that Brown probably would need four months of the off-season to fully recover.

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO--For the coach with the reputation as the greatest closer in basketball history, with the nine championship rings to prove it, Phil Jackson never has had a team stagger to the finish line quite like these Lakers.

Never in 15 previous seasons has Jackson coached a team that failed to win at least six of its final 10 games heading toward the playoffs. This season’s Lakers would be happy just to win a game after dropping six of their last eight.

They have fallen 1 1-2 games out of sixth place in the Western Conference standings with four games to play. It would take a spectacular collapse for the Lakers not to make the playoffs, but they have a host of issues to address before the season ends.

``This team has to learn some things still,’’ Jackson said. ``We’re confident we can go in the playoffs and do some things that are good. I don’t know if we’re going to win a playoff series right now, if I was to bet on it. But I would say that we’re going to play.’’

The Lakers have done little to improve their standing as one of the NBA’s worst defensive teams (giving up 103.4 points per game) and have been a ``fourth-quarter enigma,’’ according to Jackson, unable to come through with necessary big plays.

``That’s a big part of it is that we’re not finding a way to win games that are there for us,’’ Jackson said. ``That’s concerning to us and disappointing, and those things all take a little bit out of you.’’

The Lakers have beaten only one team with a winning record since the All-Star break (at Utah on Feb. 26) and have gone just 14-25 since reaching the high-water mark of their season at 26-13 with a Jan. 17 victory at San Antonio.

Their starting point guard, Smush Parker, has been benched in the fourth quarter of three of the last four games. Their starting center, Kwame Brown, is out with an injured left ankle and could not guarantee Tuesday he would be back for the playoffs.

Their last seven wins have come with Kobe Bryant averaging 47.6 points, suggesting that the only hope in the playoffs will be a one-man scoring show. The problem? Bryant is shooting 41.7 percent (110 of 264) since his spree of 50-point games ended.

If they can’t build momentum now, Jackson was asked if he thought the Lakers could do so once the playoffs started. He cited the 1977-78 Washington Bullets (with a forward named Mitch Kupchak) that finished 44-38 yet won a championship.

The Lakers will finish the regular season against the Clippers on Thursday, at Phoenix on Friday, home against Seattle on Sunday and at Sacramento on Wednesday. They would qualify for the playoffs with one win and one loss by eighth-place Golden State.

Jackson said his first priority is keeping opposing teams off the foul line. The Nuggets went 39 of 49 from the line in Monday’s victory, yet another night in which the Lakers shot fewer free throws (28) than their opponents made.

Brown update: Brown is bothered by a bone bruise in his ankle and made no assurances about when he would next play. He questioned whether he could get up and down the floor and would not commit to returning for the playoffs.

``Everybody says, `They need me back, they need me back,’ but I’m not going to play if I’m going to hurt the team,’’ Brown said. ``At this point, I don’t think I can do anything to contribute.’’

Radmanovic back: Vladimir Radmanovic played four-on-four at the end of practice - - sinking a 3-pointer, a midrange jumper and a layup - - and plans on being in uniform Thursday. Whether he will play has not been determined.

The hand injury Radmanovic suffered in October has healed and the shoulder he separated while snowboarding is getting closer to 100 percent. In the meantime, he was asked what contribution he thought he could make.

``I think the contribution I was supposed to make, what I was brought for at the beginning of the season,’’ Radmanovic said. ``It’s been a rough season for me obviously and really frustrating but I’ll try to put everything behind me and have this as a new start.’’

Before the game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson gave us a little history lesson in response to a question about orchestrating a playoff matchup. This was not the first time the subject came up this season; Jackson has needled the Clippers for how they played(?) their way into a first-round series with Denver last season.

Jackson said he never had considered doing such a thing and didn't believe in it. Of course, the Lakers obviously are orchestrating their way into the playoffs right now by losing six of their last eight games. The way things are going, they'll orchestrate their way out in five games. So it's a largely a moot point, though an interesting one.

His belief on the subject seemed to have been shaped by an event that happened when he was coaching the Chicago Bulls. Jackson said he believed that Stan Albeck, who coached the team before Doug Collins, was fired because he tried to do such a thing in the 1985-86 season. Turns out, Jackson had his facts a little wrong.

What happened was the Bulls faced a decision about bringing Michael Jordan back from a broken foot in mid-March of what was shaping up to be a lost season. They reluctantly did so, with Jordan's minutes being so strictly limited that Albeck actually sat him in a game his team was leading by a point with 31 seconds left.

But the Bulls still won six of their last 10 games to make the playoffs. They didn't qualify for the draft lottery and Albeck was fired after the season. Jackson's take was backward, that Krause and Co. were playing to win when they weren't. He said: ``They thought you win games you should win and that’s the way you should do this game.''

Jackson went on to say that you can't cheat the fans who buy tickets hoping to see a competitive game. At the same time, he all but promised to rest his starters in next week's regular season finale against Sacramento if the Lakers are locked into their playoff position.

``I want this team to win games and to do that you have to play at a certain level,'' Jackson said.

(It's also worth noting that the Clippers generated a tremendous degree of positive momentum by beating the Nuggets and advancing out of the first round while the Memphis Grizzlies, who finished fifth, were swept by Dallas and have fallen all the way to being the NBA's worst team.)

* * *

Smush Parker found himself benched in the fourth quarter for the third time in four games. At least there was a positive to be found in the play of Sasha Vujacic. After not playing in the Lakers' two previous games, Vujacic finished with six points and three steals in 22 minutes while making a number of big plays.

The Lakers were looking at heading into halftime down by 10 when Vujacic stripped Allen Iverson and fed ahead to Maurice Evans for a 3-pointer at the buzzer. That left them trailing by a more-manageable 65-58. Vujacic also turned another steal into an Evans' 3-pointer in the fourth quarter as the Lakers' staged their comeback.

But Vujacic couldn't catch a break in the end. The Lakers were looking for a stop in the closing seconds with the shot and game clock both in their favor. Vujacic went to trap Carmelo Anthony only to wind up called for a kicking violation, resetting the shot clock (turning it off, more accurately) and forcing the Lakers to foul.

* * *

What a strange, strange game out of Andrew Bynum. He got pulled two minutes into the game after a couple of blown coverages on defenses. Then he gets shuttled back into the game after Ronny Turiaf was twice blocked by Marcus Camby. Then Bynum headed to the bench again after picking up his second foul. All in the first 3:54.

Bynum had a underwhelming first half and the Nuggets took advantage of his mistakes to build a 15-point lead. He threw away a pass, leading to a fast break basket, and then committed a violation on the subsequent inbounds pass. Kobe Bryant fumed a little bit later at Bynum when he didn't cut to receive a pass.

The second half was a different story, though, for the 19-year-old. With Bryant setting him up, Bynum punched in four baskets in the third quarter. But he also picked up three fouls in six minutes and had to sit midway through the quarter. The Nuggets scored 10 unanswered points in 65 seconds right about then.

Jackson opted to play Ronny Turiaf until he fouled out in the fourth quarter. Bynum came in for rebounding purposes at the very end but checked back out without officially playing a second. His final line? Sixteen points on 7-of-8 shooting, seven rebounds and two turnovers in 19 minutes.

* * *

Lamar Odom thought he had drawn an offensive foul on Nene when the Lakers needed one with 7.1 seconds left. Odom said he tried to ``antagonize'' Nene by crowding him and was on the receiving end of a quick head-butt in retaliation. Referee Leroy Richardson, though, called both players for a double technical foul.

Luke Walton also was called for a technical late in the third quarter. I'm not sure if I've seen Walton pick up a technical in all my seasons on the beat. Walton was furious that he got hit in the face fighting for a rebound only to hear a whistle blow and learn that a loose-ball foul was called on Turiaf.

* * *

The Nuggets could not have played a worse second half against the Lakers' zone defense. They shot 11 of 39 (28.2 percent) overall and 3 of 15 from 3-point range. So roughly 40 percent of their shots were from long range as they tried to close out a game they led much of the way by double digits.

* * *

My question tonight is which team you as a Lakers fan would rather see in the playoffs. Jackson said he had a preference but wasn't going to share it.

The Lakers nearly swept San Antonio in the regular season but I think they know how difficult a matchup that would be given the Spurs defense, their championship pedigree and a very limited Kwame Brown to hold down Tim Duncan.

The Lakers are more than familiar with the Suns after last season's playoffs. Of course, Phoenix is a much different team with Amare Stoudemire back. You had to think after hearing Bryant praise Raja Bell for being one of the few players committed to playing defense that he was just setting Bell up to take him down.

Maybe I'm the only one, but I've thought the Lakers would really push the Mavericks. Dallas never plays well at Staples Center (except for that record 36-point victory) and is just a year removed from having Bryant drop 62 in three quarters on them. Plus Odom gives Dirk Nowitzki as much trouble as anyone in the league.

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

DENVER--They all but said goodbye to their chances of finishing sixth in the Western Conference standings and said hello their place in history as the team with the worst record in Phil Jackson’s Hall of Fame career as a head coach.

But the Lakers did not go down without a fight Monday night, rallying from 13 points down in the fourth quarter, even as their slide toward the playoffs continued with a 115-111 loss to the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center.

The Lakers buried themselves by giving up 65 points in the first half, then staged an improbable fourth quarter comeback. The end result was all too familiar, though, as the Lakers lost for the sixth time in eight games.

They fell 1 1-2 games behind Denver for sixth but the Nuggets clinched the season series tiebreaker by beating the Lakers for the third time since March 15. The Lakers (40-38) still lead eighth-place Golden State and the Clippers by two games.

Even if the difference is negligible between playing Dallas, Phoenix or San Antonio in the first round, the Lakers have been unable to find any momentum as the playoffs draw closer. They will try again with Thursday’s home game against the Clippers.

``We can get a hot streak,’’ Kobe Bryant said. ``We just want to get to a place where we’ve got some type of rhythm, we’ve got some type of accountability. We’ve got (four) games here to kind of right that ship. I’m confident. I’m optimistic that we’ll play much better.’’

Even if the Lakers win out, they won’t match last season’s 45-37 record, which once seemed a foregone conclusion. That was the worst mark of Jackson’s career before these Lakers experienced an unprecedented run of injuries and losing streaks.

The Lakers still can clinch a playoff berth with one more victory and one more loss by the Warriors. Whether they will follow last season’s team, which was Jackson’s first ever to fail to advance past the first round of the playoffs, remains to be seen.

Jackson has managed expectations since his return last season but didn’t sound encouraged when asked before the game if he saw any upsets coming out of the West in the first round.

``That’s a real long shot for us to be able to get something done,’’ Jackson said, ``especially with a seven-game series now. It really does make a difference when it’s a seven-game series. An upstart team’s not going to pull off a swift kick.’’

Bryant finished with 23 points and 10 assists but made just 9 of 30 shots, including a wrong-foot 3-pointer that could have tied the game with 2.9 seconds left. Luke Walton added 19 points, Lamar Odom contributed 18 and Andrew Bynum had 16.

Jackson described the Lakers as being a ``fourth-quarter enigma’’ before the game and Monday was yet another example. They got back in the game by turning to a zone defense, then surged in front by scoring 10 unanswered points.

They took their first lead (105-104) since the middle of the first quarter on Brian Cook’s 3-pointer with 4:20 left. But they could hold their ground as Ronny Turiaf was stripped on a key possession and Odom and Bryant both missed late free throws.

``That seems to be our problem right now,’’ Jackson said, ``is just finishing the game, making `the play’ or making a play that’s a critical play in the game to bring us to that point.’’

The Lakers had a chance to tie in the final minute but the Nuggets forced the ball out of Bryant’s hands. He moved it to Cook beyond the 3-point arc only to watch as Cook passed on his shot, then fired the ball to Walton and cut to the basket.

Cook got the ball back but missed his layup with 30.9 seconds to play, saying afterward, ``I kind of got shoved on the catch and I tried to kind of half-hook it, half-lay it up. It fell short. I wish I had it over again.’’

Carmelo Anthony made the second of two free throws with 9.2 seconds left, then fouled Bryant immediately after the Lakers inbounded the ball. Bryant’s two free throws made it 112-111 but the Lakers couldn’t come up with a steal and had to foul Anthony.

The Nuggets star might lose the scoring title to Bryant but he won the battle Monday. Anthony, who finished with 33 points, five rebounds and five assists, made two free throws with 7.1 seconds left to put the Nuggets ahead 114-111.

The Lakers’ last gasp ended with Bryant launching and missing an awkward 28-foot 3-pointer off his left foot with 2.9 seconds left. Denver won its sixth consecutive game, behind Allen Iverson’s 24 points and Marcus Camby’s 22 rebounds and seven blocks.

Somewhere along the line, the Lakers are going to have to play defense to win in the playoffs. They showed how much they missed injured center Kwame Brown in allowing a season-high-tying 65 points on 61.5 percent shooting to the Nuggets.

While Camby blocked four shots in the first quarter, the Lakers had no defensive anchor. They gave up all manner of layups and fast break baskets and left Jackson no option but to employ a zone defense to stop penetration in the second half.

The Lakers gave up 32 points in the first quarter, 65 in the first half and 92 by the end of three quarters. It did little to improve the Lakers’ chances of not finishing the season ranked among the NBA’s worst defensive teams, giving up 103.4 points per game.

``We just want to start winning games because winning’s contagious,’’ Walton said. ``If you go into the playoffs losing, then you don’t really have anything you’re building on.’’

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

DENVER--No matter what team the Lakers wind up facing in the playoffs, the scouting report in regard to Lamar Odom likely will read the same: Play him to shoot.

As he plays through a torn labrum in his left shoulder, Odom’s shooting has unquestionably suffered. After Monday’s game against Denver, Odom has made 4 of 28 3-pointers and 49 of 80 free throws since returning from the injury.

That’s 14.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc and 61.3 percent from the foul line, when the game stops and Odom’s shoulder begins to tighten. Odom missed a key free throw Monday with 1:59 left and a chance to put the Lakers ahead by two.

``I’ve really been trying to focus on getting my shot off the dribble because my arm lacks a lot of strength, that I really need rhythm,’’ Odom said. ``I’m really trying to put the ball on the floor, use my ability to handle the ball to get my jump shot off.’’

Odom added: ``The strength is just not the same. The more I stand still, the weaker it feels. So I figure if I can dribble into a nice little rhythm, it’ll kind of help it a little bit.’’

Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he been vocal with Odom in recent games, yelling ``Why?’’ when his forward launched an ill-considered 3-pointer. Playing with the injury, Jackson said Odom has a ``responsibility’’ to take good shots.

``He knows that the rest of his game is very, very good right now,’’ Jackson said. ``That part of his game, we’ll see where it takes him as he goes through the playoffs. He’s still working on his therapy, getting his shoulder loose and able to shoot.

``He’s been working on his shooting a lot actually. So we’re hoping it improves. He still has to try it out. He still has to make a threat out of it.’’

Brown update: Kwame Brown did not make the trip to Denver and underwent an MRI exam Monday on his injured left ankle. Brown reported a different pain in the ankle - - the exam revealed no additional damage - - and might not return until the playoffs.

``We may just have to sit him out,’’ Jackson said. ``That may be the recommendation that we get. A lot of it will be up to him. I’m not going to encourage him unless we say like, `Hey, come out in Wednesday’s game if we’re playoff bound and play a half so you get in a game rhythm so you feel like you’re ready to go in the playoffs at full strength.’’

Jackson said he considered ``just for a second’’ starting Ronny Turiaf with Brown out and Andrew Bynum struggling before deciding against the move.

He conceded that it would give the Lakers ``obviously our best, most active team but it’s not what’s going to win the game for us in the fourth quarter.’’ Jackson said that Turiaf, because of his nagging hip soreness, ``doesn’t have a 40-minute game in him.’’

Also: The Lakers plan on having Jordan Farmar play a third and final game with the development league D-Fenders on Thursday but will limit his minutes. . . .Jackson expects Vladimir Radmanovic to return from his separated shoulder Sunday against Seattle.

However you rank personality traits, the ability to laugh at yourself has to be high on the list. In Vladimir Radmanovic's case, it's good to see that he didn't lose his sense of humor in addition to the $500,000 subtracted from his bank account after his snowboarding mishap over the All-Star break.

We know this from an exchange at the end of Saturday's practice. Radmanovic was one of the last players off the floor as he worked on his shooting in the hopes of returning from his separated shoulder Thursday. He stopped to answer a couple of questions about how things were going in the recovery process.

I told Radmanovic that we missed him in Seattle, where he spent the first 4 1-2 seasons of his career. Not surprisingly, Radmanovic said he didn't really miss making the trip. The only thing Radmanovic can count on more than the rain in Seattle are the questions about the $42 million extension he turned down with the Sonics.

Radmanovic was told that it was a rare day of sunshine and record temperatures in Seattle. Alex McKechnie, the Lakers' athletic performance coordinator and a British Columbia native, then added that the views of snow-covered Mount Rainer were spectacular.

To which Radmanovic didn't miss a beat in saying, ``Didn't you see me coming down?'' As in snowboarding down the side of another mountain. After missing seven weeks with the injury, Radmanovic probably needs to make a joke or two at his own expense.

As for his return, Radmanovic still has yet to take part in contact drills. He hopes to do that Tuesday and/or Wednesday depending on the Lakers' practice schedule and return Thursday against the Clippers.

A couple of weeks ago, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he thought Radmanovic might have some problems launching his patented ``30-foot 3-pointers,'' as he described them, with the separated shoulder. Radmanovic was asked Saturday if he was having any trouble shooting the long ball.

``I think I’ll be able to do that,'' Radmanovic said with a grin. ``I’ve been working hard the last almost two months. It’s not going to be easy but it’s definitely not going to prevent me from doing what I’m supposed to do on the court.’’

We'll see how quickly Radmanovic can get back into rhythm with four games left before the playoffs. He was wearing a shoulder pad underneath a compression shirt at practice Saturday.

* * *

Whether the result of Kwame Brown's injured ankle or Andrew Bynum's ineffectiveness, Ronny Turiaf has been the Lakers' fourth-quarter center in recent games. He plays well with Kobe Bryant and brings an energy to the floor but Jackson said he wasn't considering starting Turiaf ahead of Bynum.

Jackson of Bynum's starter minutes: ``Those kind of minutes are important for us to have early to set a tone for an interior game, get something inside, see if we can’t get something accomplished in there in the post early in the game. We haven’t been able to lately.’’

Kwame Brown said of Bynum's lackluster play: ``I don’t think it’s anything else but his confidence. He had all sorts of confidence at the beginning of the season when I went out. I don’t know where that went. I don’t know what he’s got to do to get it back. That’s what he needs. It’s not his game, it’s his confidence.’’

* * *

Smush Parker's streak of consecutive starts is still alive. Parker is going to start his 158th consecutive game against Phoenix despite sitting the entire fourth quarter of the last two games. Jackson said he thought Parker had enough of a positive history against the Suns (I guess except for the 2006 playoffs) to warrant the start.

* * *

Updated after Denver's victory Saturday against the Clippers

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

EL SEGUNDO--As far back as December, Lakers coach Phil Jackson can remember talking to his assistants about how the final full week of the regular season would play out for his team. Every game seemed to bring with it playoff possibilities even then.

He couldn’t have been any more right as the Lakers will open a set of four games today that likely will determine their playoff direction. The Lakers will play Phoenix twice as well as Denver and the Clippers in the next six days.

``It’s a great opportunity for us,’’ Kobe Bryant said. ``This is like a playoff atmosphere type of games.”

The Lakers no longer sit alone in sixth place in the Western Conference standings after Denver’s victory over the Clippers on Saturday night. The Nuggets and Lakers share an identical 40-36 record with the Clippers 2 1-2 games back in eighth.

The other question is which of the conference’s three powerhouses - - Dallas, Phoenix or San Antonio - - the Lakers would draw in a first-round playoff series. As the sixth seed, the Lakers have been on track to face the Spurs for the better part of a month. [ep

At the same time, the Lakers could fall into seventh and meet the Suns in a rematch of last season’s first-round series. The Suns hold a two-game lead over San Antonio for the West’s No. 2 seed.

Jackson was able to joke about the conventional wisdom that the Spurs could catch the Suns because Phoenix has the more difficult schedule.

``Those people that thought they had a tougher schedule included us in the schedule,’’ Jackson said. ``I said, `You’ve got to remember who we are right now. We haven’t beat teams over .500 in a long time. This is our challenge right now.’’’

The Lakers will play host to Phoenix today and then play at Denver on Monday. They will meet the Clippers in a home game Thursday before traveling to Phoenix for the second game of a back-to-back set Friday.

Brown back? Jackson joked about the coaching staff setting odds that Kwame Brown would be able to overcome his sprained left ankle and play today. The consensus was that Brown would sit out his third game since re-aggravating the injury.

Brown made quite the fashion statement after Saturday’s practice, wearing a pair of Gucci shoes but with a web of athletic tape wrapped around his ankle.

``I haven’t counted myself out yet but it still hurts,’’ Brown said. ``I’ve been playing with the pain the whole time. If it improves a little more like it did (Friday) night, I can try to play (today).’’

Record keeping: The Lakers would have to win five of their last six games just to match last season’s 45-37 record. That was the worst record of any Jackson-coached team, which led to a question about whether this season has been his most trying.

``It hasn’t been the kind of season where everything’s a downer for us,’’ Jackson said. ``We had a really good three months when we started the season. We played well. We felt good about ourselves.

``My goal is to get them back playing where they were the first 40 games. They’ve still got an opportunity to do that, so we’re trying to be real optimistic about it.’’

Also: Jackson will keep Smush Parker in the starting lineup despite benching him in the fourth quarter of the last two games. Jackson said Parker was ``responsive’’ at practice . . . Jordan Farmar will pull double duty and play in the development league again Thursday . . . .Vladimir Radmanovic is hoping to return Thursday from his separated shoulder.

Even if he is playing his final games as a Laker, Smush Parker is still going to be much-needed come playoff time. He's going to draw (most likely) either Tony Parker or Steve Nash in a seven-game series, and I highly doubt Phil Jackson would entrust a rookie guard in Jordan Farmar with those minutes in his first taste of the playoffs.

So the fact that Parker's spending fourth quarters on the bench isn't a positive development. It's on Parker to find a way out of this funk . . . and he's shown he's not exactly the best at ``resetting himself,'' as Jackson puts it, whether that's in a game or falling into a black hole against Phoenix in last season's playoffs.

Here was what advice Kobe Bryant said he would give Parker: ``You've just got to stay with it. Everybody goes through ups and downs but you've got to stay with it. You've got to get in early, work on your game, work on your shots, try to get your ryhthm back by working extremely hard on the practice floor.''

Parker's comments giving up trying to read Phil Jackson in the wake of his fourth-quarter benching against the Clippers also caught Bryant's attention. His response might have been one of the most dead-on things he has said all season.

``At this point in time in the season, you want to focus on what's really important, which is us,'' Bryant said. ``It's not a particular individual or not getting minutes or whatever it may be, but understanding that what Phil's going to do, he's going to do what's right for the team.

``That's what he's going to do. It's his job as a coach to make sure the ship is moving in the right direction. Us as players have to understand that it's nothing personal. We're on the same team. We're in this thing together.

``He's going to make decisions that are appropriate for us to win ballgames. If we can understand that and put our egos aside, we'll be fine.''

Jackson was irate in the second quarter when the Lakers came out of a timeout trailing 53-43 and Parker simply lost his handle on the ball and watched it skip out of bounds in front of the bench. Total mental lapse. The Sonics got a Mike Wilks jumper at the other end to go up by 12 points, which was their biggest lead of the game.

``I wanted Smush to come out, get an opportunity to prove himself and to play tonight,'' Jackson said. ``Things didn't go well for him either shooting or the playmaking aspect of it. So I figured it was time to make a change out there and Jordan came in and played well.''

Parker said after the game that winning was the only thing that mattered and that he and Jackson talked a little before the game. ``Jordan did a great job off the bench,'' Parker said. ``He came in and gave the team a spark and coach played him because he deserved to be out there.''

* * *

Jackson was less than pleased with the Lakers play near the end of the second quarter. He brought Bryant and Parker back with 4:49 to play (Cook was forced to play center with Andrew Bynum and Ronny Turiaf in foul trouble) and the Lakers promptly gave up a 16-4 run to fall behind by 12.

The Sonics did a good job of hitting the 3-pointers and running out for the dunks that energize their team. The Lakers couldn't even get a timeout called to stop the run; Lamar Odom was stripped by Earl Watson as Jackson walked on the court in anticipation of the dead ball.

All Jackson could do was stand there as Watson flipped the ball of the backboard to Chris Wilcox (32 points, 18 rebounds) for a dunk. ``We had about a three-minute breakdown in the end of the second period that changed that ballgame,'' said Jackson, who had talked to his team about burying themselves with big deficits.

* * *

Odom hit a couple of long jumpers to start the game and went on to finish with 20 points and seven assists. Jackson cited Odom's play on defense in holding Rashard Lewis to nine points (which is 13 below his season average) on 4 of 14 shooting.

Odom also was part of a funny moment four minutes into the first quarter when he scored as part of a three-point play. He lost his gum, however, at the line to shoot the subsequent free throw. It was scooped up by one of the referees and tossed to the sideline before any player could ruin a pair of Nikes.

A less funny moment: Odom bricked two free throws at the end of the first quarter, which prompted Jackson to yell, ``Jesus!'' from the bench. Did I mention that there is a convention of athiests at my hotel in Seattle? Today's featured event was a keynote speech: ``Does it matter if Americans hate athiests?''

* * *

You wouldn't want to overlook the shots Brian Cook hit early in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers their first lead of the second half. Cook actually wound up shooting a technical free throw when the Sonics were called for defensive three seconds and Bryant was sitting on the bench.

Cook, a 75 percent free-throw shooter this season, missed the shot in the unfamiliar role. He came back, though, to hit two big 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Cook had to play some center because of foul trouble and shook off a 2-of-8 first half.

* * *

Two areas of concern for the Lakers: They did give up 109 points to a Seattle team playing without Ray Allen. The Lakers went zone late in the third quarter and watched Damien Wilkins hit a 3-pointer against it. They jumped a screen-and-roll with Farmar and Odom and still wound up watching Earl Watson hit a 3-pointer.

But the Lakers were able to come up with the stops they needed late. They also found a way to win despite getting outrebounded 50-31. You could see Jackson screaming for anyone to just grab the ball.

* * *

The Lakers' schedule is absolutely unforgiving the next week with two games against Phoenix and rematches with the Nuggets and Clippers. ``We want to go into the playoffs with some type of rhythm, with some type of energy,'' Bryant said. ``So we're looking forward to these upcoming games.''

* * *

By Ross Siler
Staff Writer

SEATTLE--There was nowhere to go but down for the Lakers in the first half of Friday night’s game against the Seattle SuperSonics, when they couldn’t even call timeout without coughing up the ball and giving up a rim-rattling dunk to Chris Wilcox.

As sunny as it was outside Key Arena, it was grim inside for the Lakers, who fell behind by a dozen points and facing the prospect of ceding sixth place in the Western Conference standings to Denver with six games left in the season.

It took 46 points from Kobe Bryant - - 31 in the second half - - and a pair of grown-up performances from youngsters Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf for the Lakers to escape with 112-109 victory in what might as well have been a must-win game.

There were issues to address for sure - - starting with whether Farmar will supplant Smush Parker in the starting lineup - - but the Lakers were able to move forward after disappointing losses to the Nuggets and Clippers this week.

It was a victory that only grew in magnitude after word circulated in the Lakers’ locker room that Denver had upset Dallas. The Lakers still lead the Nuggets by a half-game for sixth and are two games ahead of the eighth-place Clippers.

``We’re just going to have to keep on going, keep on pushing,’’ Turiaf said, ``because the guys behind us, I can guarantee you, they’re getting into fifth gear.’’

For the second consecutive game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson sat Parker the entire fourth quarter. Farmar finished the game on the floor and was joined by Turiaf as starting center Andrew Bynum went scoreless with four fouls in 12 minutes.

It was hard to argue as Bryant credited Farmar and Turiaf’s energy with turning around the night. Farmar hit a 3-pointer after entering in the third quarter, took a charge, threw a full-court outlet pass to Luke Walton and came up with a key steal late.

His performance was greater than his final line in the box score - - 3 points, 1-of-2 shooting, 2 assists - - and will force Jackson to consider whether the Lakers might be best served with Farmar starting in place of Parker.

Asked if the job was open, Jackson answered: ``I haven’t said that and I won’t answer your question.’’ Parker has started 157 consecutive games, one of the longest such streaks in the NBA.

Farmar, who was sent to play for the Lakers’ development league affiliate to get minutes this week, said his only goal was to stay on the floor and help his team win. He laughed when asked if he would welcome the chance to start.

``Without a doubt,’’ Farmar said. ``That’s what my ultimate goal is to be a starting point guard here. Whether it’s Sunday, next year, two years, three years from now, however long it takes, I’m working to try to get to that goal.’’

Parker made just 1 of 5 shots and had five turnovers in 24 minutes. Jackson wanted to give Parker the chance to redeem himself after his fourth-quarter benching Wednesday against the Clippers. Instead, Parker sat the last 16 minutes of Friday’s game.

In addition, Parker’s comments at practice Thursday about giving up trying to read Jackson were not taken well by his teammates, if Bryant’s words after the game were any indication.

``At this point in time in the season, you want to focus on what’s really important, which is us,’’ Bryant said. ``It’s not a particular individual or not getting minutes or whatever it may be, but understanding that Phil’s going to do what’s right for the team.

``It’s his job as coach to make sure the ship is moving in the right direction and us as players have to understand that it’s nothing personal. We’re on the same team. We’re in this thing together.’’

The Sonics tied the game 103-103 with 1:55 left as Earl Watson went crashing into Turiaf and earned a trip to the foul line. Turiaf ended up the worse for wear as Watson caught him in the mouth with an elbow.

Bryant answered with a 20-footer over Damien Wilkins and Watson. Then came a series of defensive plays as Farmar stripped Rashard Lewis, Turiaf came up with a steal and Walton forced Nick Collison into a tough shot with 25.3 seconds left.

Bryant finished with 46 points on 13-of-27 shooting and went 19-of-24 from the foul line. He scored 20 points in the third quarter and was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul by Collison on the fast break.

There was no showdown for Bryant against Ray Allen, his sometime nemesis, as Allen is done for the season with bone spurs in his left ankle and will undergo surgery today. The Sonics also lost Luke Ridnour to a sprained left ankle in the first quarter.

But Seattle took advantage of a mental letdown by the Lakers to build a 12-point lead in the second quarter. Even when Jackson wanted a timeout, Lamar Odom lost the ball to Watson, who raced ahead and set up Wilcox for a dunk with a pass off the backboard.

The Lakers were able to recover, however, and won’t find another soft spot on the schedule for a while. They will play Phoenix twice as well as Denver and the Clippers in the coming week, when the games will be played at a fever pitch.

``It all depends upon us winning,’’ Jackson said. ``Who (wants) to back into the playoffs? We want to win. We want to do what we have to do to play ball so that we’re playing well. It’s not about who else does what out here, although that’s important.’’